Healing After Tragedy

Healing After Tragedy

On a blistering morning last June, Danelle Stoppel, a mental-health volunteer with the American Red Cross, spotted a man standing in front of a smoldering structure in Waldo Canyon, CO. It was his home, one of hundreds lost to the wildfires that scorched 18,000 acres. He was holding a burned gas cap in his hand. Something about the way he looked at it, turning it over and over, drew Danelle to him. "I asked him about it," she says. "He told me the cap was the only thing left from an old Datsun he and his 10-year-old son were rehabbing together. He was planning on giving the car to his son when he was old enough to drive," says Danelle.

Red Cross by the Numbers

3,370

The number of Red Cross members in 1905, pre-WWI.

20,390,173

The number of Red Cross members in 1918, after WWI.

Every 8 minutes

How often the Red Cross responds to a disaster in a community.

380

The number of military families who receive emergency assistance each day.

6,000

The number of times a day someone receives a Red Cross blood transfusion.

Talking it Through

Talking it Through

Danelle offered him what she says all disaster victims need: a chance to tell his story. "It's the first step in healing," she says. "They need you to hear it. It makes it real for them. And they need you to bear witness to all that they've lost," she says. The man explained that the fire had hit on his son's birthday, right before the boy's party, and he also told her about their house. Then, "You know what the father told me?" she says, incredulously. "That he was going to find another Datsun to work on with his son. That's when I knew this family was going to be OK. They were talking about renewal, about rebuilding their home. I was in awe."

Danelle meets people during what is often the worst moment of their lives, when the right kind of comfort can make the difference between feeling abandoned and alone or supported and resilient. The Red Cross added trained mental health support personnel like Danelle to their disaster relief services 20 years ago. "We will sometimes accompany volunteers who are providing food and clothing, because that's a way to introduce yourself and let people know you're available," she says.